Indian educator and Global Teacher Prize laureate Ranjitsinh Disale has called on schools across India to apply for the inaugural Global Schools Prize, a $1 million award launched by the UK-based Varkey Foundation in collaboration with UNESCO.

The new award completes the foundation’s trilogy of honours – alongside the Global Teacher Prize and Global Student Prize – by recognising schools worldwide that are reimagining education for the future.

“As a teacher, I have seen first-hand how schools in India rise to challenges with creativity and heart,” said Disale, winner of the 2020 Global Teacher Prize. “The Global Schools Prize is a unique chance to showcase these heroic institutions on the world stage.”

All longlisted institutions will receive a Global Schools Prize Badge and access to a Global Schools Network offering partnerships and professional development opportunities. Ten category winners will each be awarded $50,000, with one school ultimately receiving the top prize of $500,000 next year.

Categories include AI transformation, arts and creativity, sustainability, wellbeing, inclusive education, STEM, and teacher development.

Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation, described the initiative as “more than an award – it’s a movement to reimagine learning in a world of constant change.” The prize will be overseen by a Global Schools Prize Council, co-chaired by UNESCO’s Stefania Giannini and Dame Christine Ryan, former chair of Ofsted.

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